I bid on an "unbranded" Straight Razor that the seller though may be an Iwasaki, but couldn't see any markings on the tang. It has some slight tarnish/pitting, but looked to be very little hone wear on it, so I figured for $50 it was worth the risk, plus it was a smiling blade, which I have been looking for.
Blade arrived today:
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...50_resized.jpg
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...59_resized.jpg
Spent a few minutes with some MAAS:
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...03_resized.jpg
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...38_resized.jpg
There is some tarnish on the tang, but when I tilted the tang at different angles, I saw the faint etching; same as the other Iwaski's from the same vendor! The tarnish hid the markings, but I was able to confirm that this is in fact an Iwasaki! I was even able to see some kanji on the back side of the tang; I will try to get some better pics and see if I can get the kanji to show up. The first one is like an upside down Y and the other is a t with a second cross bar below the first that I can see visibly and they match up with the first 2 Kanji that were printed on the other Iwasaki's I saw for sale. Gonna hone it up and give it a go!